By our special Correspondent
Thrissur, Feb 14 (IVC ) In all 910 persons, including Aji at Mananthavady on Fef 10 , were killed in the State by the attack of wild animals of which only 706 families were given compensation, the official sources said .
Besides, 7492 persons suffered injuries by the attack of wild animals, the sources added. During the fiscal 2021-22 , 1191 persons’ crops were destroyed and suffered injuries and they have to still get the compensation declared the Government . Two-thousand-two-hundred and twenty-two persons for the fiscal 2022-23 have to obtain compensation and 3360 persons during the fiscal 2023-24.
The delay in disbursing the compensation was due to paucity of funds, victims’ inability to produce the requisite documents and difficulty in identifying the deceased persons, the source said.
The year-wise details of the deceased are given as per the order of year, number of deceased and those who received compensation : 2016 142 118, 2017 110 93, 2018 134 107, 2019 100 80, 2020 100, 85, 2021 127 105, 2022 111 70, 2023 85 48.
During last 36 years , 118 persons were killed in the Wynad District alone by the attack of wild animals and eight persons were killed per year, the sources said.
It is an ordinary event for wild elephants, tigers and wild boars enter the human habitation and attack the innocent people.
The statistics available with the Forest Department and other agencies portrayed a poor picture of the affairs in State . As per the records available with the Forest Department , 202 people were killed in the State from 2012 to February 2023 in wild elephants attacks
On the other hand, domesticated elephants killed 196 people in the State mainly at festival venues during the period from 2011 to 2023, according to the data available with the Heritage Animal Task Force, an organization of animal welfare activists. “We could hardly see any serious protests against the tragic incidents involving captive elephants. This is evident from the tale of Thechikottkavu Ramachandran that allegedly killed 13 persons in the past two decades, but still remains much sought-after at the festival venues in the State. However , there has been a marked drop in human casualities at festval venues since 2023 following the intervention of animal rights activists and media against the abuse of elephants in festival venues”, said V K Venkitachalam General Secretary of the Organization.
